arose the somewhat curious sobriquet of the "printer's devil."

Perhaps some of the most interesting glimpses at Venetian inner life are afforded to us in the villas of literary and artistic men Literature and science were so absorbing, even to the early Venetians, that a law was once in vogue forbidding those who could with. counsel or strength assist their country from entering the ranks of science.*

The patricians were wont to meet in each other's houses, in rooms exclusively devoted to these literary gatherings, where everything pleasing to a refined taste was prepared for them. The very floors of these rooms were inlaid with scientific devices; the walls were covered with frescoes or pictures by the best artists. The ceilings depicted a starry hemisphere. Poetry throve wonderfully at these réunions, and after the arrival of Aretino at Venice, in 1527, the poetical talent of Venice reached its height. Aretino, as also other learned men, received a hearty welcome from the Doge; he was fawned upon and thoroughly spoilt by the patricians; consequently, his poetry became mean and time-serving. As an adventurer, he knew where best to plant his flattery; as a poet, he could deck that flattery in most becoming robes. He lived on the Grand Canal, and loved, as he tells us in his letters, to watch the busy life beneath him; he was a constant guest at all the leading houses af Venice, and gave himself up to a life of thorough voluptuousness. The Aretino" became the nickname of the fastest living coterie of Venice, and under his guidance they indulged in many an orgy. Aretino, moreover, was on most intimate terms with Titian and Sansovino; between these three friends a constant round of gayety went on. When the snowflakes fell, Titian and Aretino in a well-warmed room would sit at table and quaff Trebbian wine, the gift of the wife of Correggio, and they would eat thrushes cooked with laurel and pepper, and hams of Friuli, sent to Aretino by the Count Manfred of Collalto."

46

Not a foreigner of celebrity passed through Venice without being welcome at the house of Aretino, and if his con

stant visitors wearied him he would call a gondola and glide to the quiet abode of Titian in a remote part of the city called Biri, to the loggia of which one ascended by a garden and stairs, and the view from which extended over the poetical lagunes to the distant Alps. Aretino's death was significant of his life; one evening while at table he heard an obscene joke which convulsed him with. laughter; he fell from his chair and knocked his head heavily on the floor; this caused his death shortly afterwards.* On the Rialto, hard by the shops of many-colored cloths, and near the desks of the money-changers, was the house of Gentile Bellini, adorned with pictures; an abode of the Muses, which was a favorite rendezvous of his fellow artists. Tintoretto, too, was a prover bial bon vivant, and dearly loved a jest. At his musical entertainments, patronized by the élite of Venice, his daughter Marietta would delight the audience with her songs. The artists of Venice enjoyed full liberty of speech and action; in short they constituted a species of aristocracy by themselves, honored and respected by the whole of Venice. One day a patrician sat for his picture; Tintoretto was the artist; the noble repeatedly impressed on him the necessity of accurately copying the lace and the golden ornaments which hung from his robes. Disgusted at being thus spoken to, Tintoretto at length cast down his brush and said, "Go to Bassano, he will paint you best." Now Bassano was known to all Venice as the most skilful depicter of the animal world. Assuredly the patrician must have felt humbled.

The pedigree of theatrical development is well traced in Venice. Rude mystery plays in the Piazza amused the earlier inhabitants of the lagunes; stages were set up for them wherever a sufficient space was to be found; the creation of Adam and Eve, the Annunciation, and the Crucifixion formed the most favorite subjects, the interludes of which were filled up with the ludicrous scenes of Puncinello, or jocose contests between Pontius Pilate and Judas, which live, say etymologists, to-day in the streets of London, under the name

* Bongi.

of "Punch and Judy." By the instrumentality of the Stocking brethren a new element was introduced into the theatrical world in the shape of momaria, which took place generally after the banquets and weddings in private life-for long they kept exclusively a private nature; at these a poet would recite, with but little scenic display, extravagant and jocose lays about the ancestors of the chief guest or bride. The pleasure-loving rich quickly adopted these momaria on every possible occasion, until, in process of time, they found their way into the Piazza* and public places. In 1532, on Holy Thursday, there took place à grand momaria in the Piazza of St. Mark. Stage effect was carefully studied, and the accompaniment of music added zest to the performance. Pallas riding on a serpent, holding in one hand a shield and in the other a book, opened the entertainment; she was followed by Justice and his emblems riding on an elephant; next came Concord on a stork, bearing in one hand a sceptre and in the other a sphere. Fourthly, Victory rode in on horseback with a sceptre, a sword, and a shield. Peace came next mounted on a lamb, her sceptre was adorned with olives. Lastly, came Abundance with the usual emblems. Around these allegorical figures of the highest class flitted others of an inferior order; such as Ignorance on an ass, Violence on a serpent, War, Death, and Penury, which last was mounted on a dog with a cornucopia full of straw. The stage represented the temple of Janus, and was adorned with arms and trophies; a mock fight took place between the opposite elements depicted on the stage, until at length Victory, who was dressed as the Queen of the Adriatic, declared herself, and the gates of the temple were shut. Dancing succeeded this entertainment, and the piazza was wild with delight.f

In the private villas of great men, fables, classical plays, and comedies, became common during the early part of the sixteenth century. But it required the exertions of the companies of the Calza to improve the tone of the Venetian stage, so as to suit the tastes of the

* Mutinelli, "Costume Veneziane." + Sanudo.

populace. Gradually wooden stages on the Piazza gave place to closed-in buildings which could be utilized in winter. Tintoretto painted scenic representations for them in his less ambitious days; Vasari designed the representation for one of Aretino's plays called Talanta; and in 1565 one of the Calza companies summoned to Venice Palladio who had just erected his curious little wooden theatre at Vicenza, still an object of curiosity to the traveller who halts at that city; he erected a corresponding one at Venice in the monastery of Santa Maria della Carità; Zuccari painted twelve pictures for it, and it was opened with the representation of a play by Dal Monte, likewise from Vicenza, called Antigono.

By the end of that century all the stage components were in working order; music, scenery, comedy and tragedy, so that by the close of the seventeenth century Venice was the owner of no less than eighteen theatres.*

Autumn life in the villas on the mainland was a delightful feature in rich Venetian life. Punctilious in detail, lavish in every luxury, this rural life of a Venetian patrician affords an excellent insight into the character and customs of the dwellers among the lagunes. The dolce far niente, proverbially Italian, found its exception in Venice. When taking their villeggiatura, the Venetians divided the day, allotting to each hour a separate occupation. At nine in the morning a bell rang and all arose, barbers were in attendance to shave the guests, and when toilettes were completed they all assembled at ten for "caffé” and a light collation, at which they were joined by the master of the house; an hour's conversation followed; at eleven another bell rang to summon the household to mass.

It was then expected of everybody to retire to his room for study or contemplation until two o'clock, when dinner was announced. Three rooms were generally allotted for this meal, one for soups and vegetables, another for meats, and a third for sweets and fruits.

The chase, walking, and picnics in the neighboring forests occupied the afternoons, and on these excursions

* Galvani.

The Spectator.

ASSASSINATION seems of late to have been playing a more than usually terrible part in the world's history. We have been hearing of an inquiry proceeding into what is alleged to have been the murder of the Sultan of Turkey. We have scarcely yet done talking of the dreadful deed which brought to a close the troubled reign of Alexander II. of Russia. Since that tragedy all civilized society has read with painful interest of the precautions which the present Emperor of Russia has thought it necessary to take against the pitiless foes who have threatened his life. Then, again, the whole civilized world has been stirred to indignation by the recent attempt on the life of the American President. And while we write all England is aghast at another illustration of what this murderous spirit is capable of in the discovery of ten "infernal machines" imported into Liverpool, and designed, it is to be feared, for that most diabolical of all methods of assassination-the explosion which scatters death and destruction without the smallest possible refer ence to even the presumption of offence on the part of the majority of its victims. There can be no doubt that the modern developments and discoveries of science have greatly lengthened and strengthened the arm of the assassin. When, some eight or ten centuries ago, Hassan

Ben-Sahib planted his Order of Assassins" in Persia, the dagger and the poison cup were the only means which in a general way were open to him.

We

The records of history are full of direful deeds. Russia, among European nations, has won a bad pre-eminence in the murder of its sovereigns, though it is quite a new thing for the lower orders of the people to be plotting such business. Almost invariably it has been the work of those about the throne. Mr. Carr, in his "Northern Tour," gives a terribly graphic account of the death of the Emperor Paul, which may be taken as a fair representation of the many occurrences of the kind in Russia. have here no patriots" issuing proclamations in the name of the people, no public ferment, no excitement or disturbance of any kind outside the palace walls. Such affairs have usually originated in Russia, until recent times, merely in court intrigues for the attainment of place and power. At such a court there are, of course, never wanting some to whom the monarch has made himself disagreeable or dangerous, and a few such spirits were easily banded together for the perpetration of the murder.

The Emperor Paul seems to have been worried by some apprehension of mischief, and took a more than usually affectionate farewell of his wife and

children on the fatal night. He lay down as usual, in his regimentals and boots-who would not be an emperor? —and his guards took up their posts before his chamber door. Silence at length reigned throughout the palace, except when it was disturbed by the pacing of the sentinels or, at a distance, by the murmurs of the Neva, and only a few lights distantly and irregularly gleamed through the windows of the dark, colossal abode. In the dead of night eight or nine conspirators passed the drawbridge and made their way stealthily up the staircase to the emperor's chamber, where by this time the guards had been changed by the contrivance of the assassins-all but one faithful hussar, who had the distinction of always sleeping at the bedroom door of his imperial master in an ante-room. This man it was found impossible to remove by any fair means, and when the conspirators entered the ante-chamber he awoke, challenged them, and was immediately cut down. The noise of this proceeding roused the emperor, who sprang from his couch as the whole party rushed in.

The helpless monarch endeavored to find shelter behind the tables and chairs, and then for a moment he recovered his self-possession and assumed a tone of authority. He told them they were his prisoners, and called upon them to surrender. The merciless ring closed around him, however, and the wretched emperor begged so piteously for his life, that one of the conspirators relented, and for a moment seemed half inclined to side with the victim. He offered to relinquish the sceptre, and promised that he would give them estates and make them all princes, and then, finding all was vain, he plunged madly for the window, and attempted to break through it, fearfully gashing his hand in his struggles. He was dragged back from the window-which, however, was so high that he would inevitably have been killed had he gone through-and then he seized a chair and fought desperately with it. "We have passed the Rubicon !" exclaimed one of the conspirators; "if we spare his life, before the setting of to-morrow's sun we shall be his victims !" Thus rallied, the murderers passed a sash round the neck of

the struggling emperor, and in another minute or two all was over, and the conspirators dispersed quietly to their homes.

The most daring and comprehensive plot for assassination known to modern history undoubtedly was that in which Guy Fawkes" was the prominent figure. That, as we all know, failed; but had Fawkes actually succeeded in firing his mine underneath the Houses of Parliament, it would possibly have been not much more destructive in its effects that Orsini's famous bombs, which are said to have inflicted no less than five hundred wounds, many of them of fatal severity. The shells of these frightful little missiles were made in Birmingham, by a manufacturer to whom the purpose to which they were to be devoted appears to have been unknown. He had a model supplied to him, according to which he was to make six small iron cases of the shape of a pear, the larger end being made heavy, so as to fall foremost when the bomb was thrown from the hand. Each shell was to have on this larger end twenty-five nipples, of a size to fit an ordinary percussion cap. These mysterious little receptacles having been supplied according to order, they were handed over to a Frenchman in London, to be filled with an explosive composition of the most violent character then known to science. The result, so far as the murderous discharge was concerned, was precisely what the conspirators had calculated on, but their intended victim escaped nevertheless. on the life of the Emperor Napoleon III. was made on the 14th of January, 1858, when the monarch and his wife were to go to the opera. Orsini, Pierri, Gomez, and Rudio, armed with the frightful little magazines, placed themselves in a group on the route by which the imperial cortège was to sweep along to the opera house. Suddenly three terrific explosions were heard, and as the smoke cleared away the arch-conspirator Orsini was himself found to be among the wounded, but the emperor and empress passed on unhurt to the opera. The imperial carriage had been shattered, one of the horses killed, and two footmen, who had stood immediately behind the emperor, were wound

Orsini's attempt